Fixed abrasives are commonly used in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) processes because they provide consistent planarity, high substrate removal rates, and low levels of nonuniformity and defects. In the field of semiconductors, it is well known that polishing a wafer, for example, over the edges of a fixed abrasive article may result in high defect levels on the wafer being polished. These defects can occur when the diameter of the fixed abrasive article is smaller than the diameter of the platen that the fixed abrasive article is positioned on. The defects can be in the form of scratches caused by the relatively rough and uneven edges of the fixed abrasive article contacting the wafer. Conventional solutions include either splicing the edges of two separate, fixed abrasive articles together or splicing two edges of a single fixed abrasive article together in order to cover the entire platen.